Advanced Television

Intelsat planning IPO

December 12, 2011

Intelsat, the world’s largest satellite operator, has filed an application with US regulators to transfer its various assets to a new company following on from an Initial Public Offering (IPO) which it intends to make in the near future. No date for the IPO has been set.

The FCC filing says that Intelsat will end up being listed on a major US stock exchange. Currently Intelsat is officially domiciled in Bermuda and Luxembourg for tax reasons, although it operates out of Washington DC.

As part of the IPO process, it is likely that Intelsat’s current private equity owners will exit the company. Intelsat’s initial owners were Madison Dearborn Partners, Apax Partners, Permira and Apollo Management. Now BC Partners Holdings own 71.9 per cent of the company, with Silver Lake Partners owning 15.9 per cent.

Intelsat became a private company in 2001. It currently has eight satellites under construction.

 

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